Amid
massive floods which have been inflicting high socio-economic cost for our
country, the opposition leaders recklessly insulted the government for its swift
response to help the people minimize their difficulties, to prevent the
epidemic of water-borne diseases, to assist the local authorities to take any
necessary measures to protect the life of the people and so on. The reason they
scolded the Government was that they feared the ruling party would benefit from
the floods by gaining more sympathy in the next election.
Clearly, there is no doubt that the people are clever
enough to distinguish mere words of the opposition that help nothing between
concrete measures taken by the government in this critical time that help them
to meet their needs. When it comes to the relationship with people in rural
area, there’s a world of differences between the leaders of the ruling party
and that of the opposition. The general perception is that the leaders of the opposition,
who get used to preferring pâté chaud and foie gras rather than Kako soup-traditional
Khmer soup-, lack the common touch.
In contrast, Samdech Techo Hun Sen himself led his Cabinet
touring the affected area, walked through a flooded village, rode on
small boat and spoke to the people who acclaimed him very warmly. He instructed
his Cabinet to help the people replant rice by growing seedlings to be offered
to them rather than giving seeds.
It is beyond belief of everyone that the opposition leaders
are acting inappropriately before this serious national disaster. People in the
affected area wonder what their motives were in behaving indifferent to the
suffering of the people. The question is that what they will do instead when they
win election and form the Government. Obviously, they won’t care for the livelihood
of the people. Instead, they only work to aggressively pursue their own
agenda-that is their lust for power. As a result, their words and deeds have
generated bitter disappointment from every corner of the country. On top of
that, Samdech Techo Hun Sen described the opposition parties in his TV address
on 13 October 2011 as “being flooded by
their own saliva”.
With this relation, the leaders of the opposition are
acting against their own people and also against the global trends. Next to us,
Abhisit was seen next to Yingluck discussing measures to cope with the serious
crisis caused by the current massive floods. Likewise, Aung San Su Kyi has
abandoned her hard stance against her Government and is cooperating with it for
the benefit of the people. As the world is changing, our country is favorably changing
too thanks to sound and pragmatic policies of Samdech Techo Hun Sen. In this
new world order, we have witnessed many new challenges and new realities that
require new approaches and policies.
But
despite all that, the opposition parties have unfortunately stayed
indifferently as if “their foot had not
touched the ground” as Samdech Techo Hun Sen has many times described them
for not being familiar with the real situation of the country and that of the
world. For instance, every times they speak to the grass- roots people, they
always reiterate their intentions to copy the model of democracy from Western
countries while on the contrary, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
has advised that “each country must come
to democracy at its own speed and by its own path. Government of the people
cannot be imposed from the outside. It is always and everywhere a work in
progress, and no democracy can endure without an active participation of its
citizens.”(Ref: Albright speech on HR, Atlanta, Dec.3, 1998).
Accordingly, Dr. Mahathir Mohammad has urged Malaysians
to not be hoodwinked by the West. To him, “democracy
is good but its benefit is more important” (Ref: Mahathir, Keynote address
at UMNO, KL, May 11, 2000). There is nothing
more vital for our country than whether and how we are able to maintain peace
and stability which are a sine qua non prerequisite to keep the current momentum
of our steady growing economy. There is nothing more relevant for our people
than whether we can improve their livelihood by reducing the poverty. One of
the CPP mottos- everything is for the
people- very well reflects this spirit.
Hence,
it’s time for the opposition parties to revise and readjust their policies. Basing
their policies on hatred and vengeance is naiveté, irrelevant and lacks of statesmanship
and balance. A radical change of their mindset is more than needed if they want
to become responsible parties that engage in policy debates rather than
opposing merely for the sake of opposition.
Sandra ENG
Advisor of Press
and Quick Reaction Unit